Moraea MM 18-161

Seed parent: MM 13-196 (M. tripetala X bellendenii)

Pollen parent: MM 13-41a 'Bonnie' (villosa b X villosa h)

This is a cross between a pale yellow hybrid and a beautiful purple-blue villosa. None of the grandparents were orange flowers, but the offspring are all in various shades of cream, yellow, and orange.

I don't understand how yellow and purple could produce orange.

The other curious thing about these flowers is their intricately patterned eyes.

MM 18-161a

Here are some other flowers from this cross,

Moraea MM 18-158

Seed parent: MM 11-125b (M. villosa b X gigandra)

Pollen parent: MM 13-84c ((atropunctata X neopavonia) X (atropunctata x calcicola))

Moraea MM 18-152

Seed parent: MM 13-134a (M. gigandra X villosa h)

Pollen parent: MM 13-10a (aristata x villosa) X neopavonia 'sunrise form'

Interesting! The seed parent is vivid purple. I crossed it with an orange flower that's more brightly colored toward the center. My hope was to get a purple and orange flower, but instead the tepals of this one are cream colored, with orange in the center. I think this is a handsome flower, especially with the snowy white style crests in the center.

Moraea MM 18-149

Seed parent: MM 13-137b (M. tripetala X calcicola)

Pollen parent: MM 13-84c (M. loubseri X ((atropunctata x neopavonia) x (atropunctata x calcicola)) 

Moraea MM 18-143

Seed parent: Moraea debilis

Pollen parent: Moraea neopavonia 'Summerfield'

Excellent, another first-time species cross! This one behaved exactly as I would have expected. The flowers are on the small side, like the seed parent. And the bright orange of M. neopavonia has mellowed into a peachy orange, which is what very often happens when you cross purple and orange Moraea flowers.

MM 18-143a. I like the orange and blue pattern in the center of these flowers.

Here's a sibling:

Moraea MM 18-141

Seed parent: Moraea debilis

Pollen parent: Moraea gigandra

What fun! A new species cross. I like the heavy veins in the first two photos...

I am not sure what led to these pink and white flowers; both of the parents are purple.

Moraea MM 18-137

Seed parent: MM 13-137c (M. tripetala X calcicola)

Pollen parent: MM 10-16d (neopavonia x atropunctata) X gigandra

The pollen parent has a nice reddish color, so I was hoping for a bit of red in these hybrids. But no.

Moraea MM 18-136

Seed parent: MM 13-137c (M. tripetala X calcicola)

Pollen parent: MM 13-77b (villosa x tulbaghensis) X (villosa x tulbaghensis) 

This hybrid has similar parents to MM 18-135, and like that cross it has an intense colored blaze in the centers of the tepals.

MM 18-136a

MM 18-136b

MM 18-136c

MM 18-136d. Similar to form c, but the style crests are darker, and the inner tepals (the small narrow petals) are darker in the central half.

Moraea MM 18-135

Seed parent: MM 13-137 (M. tripetala X calcicola)

Pollen parent: MM 13-89a (villosa x tulbaghensis) X villosa d

Goodness gracious. I was hoping for some stripes, but instead I got this crazy purple blaze in the center of the tepals. It looks even more striking in person. Compare this one to MM 18-136.

Too bad the eyes are so dark.

MM 18-135a

Oops. I mistakenly labeled this plant "18-135a" as well. I'll update this post when I fix it.

MM 18-135b

Here's a different sibling:

Moraea MM 18-134

Seed parent: MM 13-46 (M. tripetala pale blue form X tripetala blue)

Pollen parent: MM 13-69a or b (tulbaghensis with dark gray eye X villosa h)

This is a really interesting cross. The pollen parent (whether I used form a or b) is a fairly colorful flower. I was hoping that a cross with tripetala would give me some colorful stripes on the flowers, which is what usually happens. But in this case, the flowers are all white, and several of them have a fascinating ring of little dashes around the eye, with a triangular dagger at mid-tepal.

I wish the eye were a brighter color.

MM 18-134a

MM 18-134b

Here are some siblings:

Moraea MM 18-130

Seed parent: MM 12-155a (Moraea 'Zoe' X neopavonia)

Pollen parent: MM 13-84c (loubseri X ((M. atropunctata X neopavonia) x (atropunctata x calcicola))) 

I crossed a pale orange flower with an orangey-purple one, hoping for some sort of color blend. But in this individual, it looks like the purple genes prevailed. If some siblings bloom in the future maybe I'll get other colors.

Moraea MM 18-128

Seed parent: MM 12-155a (Moraea 'Zoe' X neopavonia)

Pollen parent: MM 13-89g (villosa x tulbaghensis) X villosa d

This is another cross where I was hoping to maybe get a reddish flower. I wouldn't call this flower red, but it's an interesting dark shade, darker than either of its parents.

Moraea MM 18-127

Seed parent: MM 13-137c (M. tripetala X calcicola)

Pollen parent: Moraea villosa o

The seed parent very often produces spotted and striped offspring, but in this case the flowers look very much like somber versions of the pollen parent.

MM 18-127a

MM 18-127b

And more...